Hollywood Zenith

" Young master, Samuel."

" Mr. Samuel"

" It\'s great to finally meet you."

Everyone started coming over and greeting him one by one. It was no time whether Samuel knew these people; he nodded along and slowly came to Paige\'s side. He couldn\'t falter now that he was exposed; he went along with it.

" Hey, Sami, what should we do?" Paige frowned slightly. She was busy thinking about a solution to their current problem.

" Hmm? What do you mean?" Samuel was hiding in the car. He didn\'t focus on what they were discussing.

Paige couldn\'t help but roll her eyes at him. She was amazed to see him acting strange, it was only a car? What\'s wrong with pink that he disliked so much?

" Joseph, elaborate on what you just told me." Paige sighed and asked him, to which Joseph once again told Samuel what was happening there. After so much talking, his mouth was a bit dry.

Samuel didn\'t understand what the problem was. Was it too bad to lose one time? How could they survive if they took everything so literally? Just ask someone capable of coming next week, and everything will be fine, right? They didn\'t lack any money, right?

" Is that so?" After listening to his speech, Samuel didn\'t really care much about it. Hearing Samuel\'s haphazard response, Paige was unsettled.

Samuel might know it, but they lived and breathed differently while in the fields. It was a matter of pride, and Paige, as their leader, refused to give up without trying.

Although she had no good solution, at least she could do one thing.

" I am going." She started heading out.

Samuel was stunned; it was then he understood she was dead serious. But with her driving skills, it was a near-impossible feat; she could only win if the other party crashed! Moreover, the track was filled with intricate turns and dangerous terrain.

" Are you really going to let her drive?" A familiar voice rang in his mind.

" Apollo?"

" Who else would it be? Isn\'t it past the time you hesitate to accept her feelings?" Apollo teased.

" Really? How come you are always here whenever I have some trouble involving girls? You seem to enjoy watching me tip-toe around such scenarios!"

" That\'s what you think. I just can\'t watch a poor girl get beaten or worse...."

" Fuck! Alright, but I just don\'t want to be the center of attention again. It has been happening too often, in my opinion." Samuel sighed.

"That\'s your destiny."

" Paige, wait! Let me drive." Samuel chased after her.

" Sami, don\'t make trouble. It\'s very different than normal driving."

" But I can do it. , Besides, didn\'t you compliment my driving earlier."

" I know what I said before but don\'t take it seriously. Racing is very different."

Paige knew Samuel didn\'t have much experience. With security concerns, he had only recently started driving himself.

Seeing her not budging, Samuel had to do something.

" Paige, I can\'t have you hurt yourself. You know I care about you." He grabbed her hand to pull her closer to his embrace.

Blatantly flirting in front of so many people, Samuel was a bit shy, but Paige was thunderstruck. What the hell was happening? She would never have expected Samuel to make a move like this. He didn\'t say anything explicitly, but wasn\'t it an indirect confession?

" I-i, w-wait.." She stuttered, lost for words.

" Just wait here. Let me compete with them." Samuel brushed up her cheek, which left her blushing.

She looked up at his face, she didn\'t know whether he meant it or not, but he was ready to go this far for her? It warmed her heart. She said nothing and turned back but went straight toward the civilian convoy.

" Come on, didn\'t you say you were not done? I am here now; let\'s compete." She was thankful for Samuel\'s worries but had to do it herself.

Everyone looked at her with dumbfounded expressions; they thought she would let Samuel compete instead of her, but Paige didn\'t want him to risk so much for her.

" Miss Paige, I know you are excited, but racing is a man\'s business. I don\'t think you would be able to come close to us! It\'s better to change riders." He didn\'t mean it negatively. With Paige, winning would become dishonorable, and losing, well, that was impossible.

" What nonsense! Don\'t try to back out now! We\'ll settle it once and for all!" Paige didn\'t like what he was implying. She was arrogant and prideful since childhood but never was tough. She was pretending hard, and seeing her act in such a way reminded Samuel of how cute she could be!

" Alright, don\'t complain that I didn\'t warn you. But you have already lost nine times? Why don\'t we make this interesting?" The leader of the other faction smiled smugly.

" Speak." Paige crossed her arms; she didn\'t like where this was going.

"The race is okay, but If we win, you guys will not be allowed to appear on this Speedway circuit on all open days; how about it?" The master driver invited by the civilian team made a risky bet. From what he had seen, he could eliminate their competition once and for all! He could \'drive\' them away forever!

Paige had a complex expression hearing their challenge. She didn\'t know if she could pick up this bet? It would be on her shoulder if they couldn\'t come here anymore. She could find some other place but what about her underlings?

" Sister Paige, we will support you. You can take the bet!"

" We trust you. If we lose, we lose."

" That\'s right. We can\'t back down now." Some younger second generation clamored their sentiments. Some were aggressive, while others were full of love for their leader.

Hearing their chatter didn\'t make her happy, so she ground her silver teeth. She couldn\'t back down when she was about to agree. Samuel pulled her back from behind and took the front.

" I accept. If we lose, we won\'t come here anymore. Not just on open day but ever, but if we win, I want you to not bother us anymore. I would not be so cruel and bet for exile, deal?" With a haughty expression, Samuel declared earnestly. The people looking down on them all became serious while facing him.

Paige glanced at him, and it seemed like she was asking if he was mad or something? It was lost in translation, but Samuel could only chuckle, seeing her move her little nose flare up and down. She was angry, but she couldn\'t do anything now they were facing their opponents.

" You will be the driver?" Most of them didn\'t see him before. They knew he didn\'t belong to the second-generation group, meaning he was an outsider.

Some of them recognized his appearance when he came closer to them. They immediately spread the news, and finally, everyone knew who they were facing this time. Samuel\'s identity could be described in one word: Scary!

The wealthy faction they were honored to stand behind him. He was willing to compete for their sake, which rarely happens. Everyone started discussing among themselves, which gave Paige a window to ask Samuel.

" Sami? Are you serious? If you are not confident, we can go now. No one would dare to stop us anyway." Paige didn\'t know what else to do. Although Samuel was fighting for her sake, it would be a disaster if he hurt himself in the process.

They were both worried about each other, which would have been sweet not for this situation. Paige might care about her face and the honor of her people, but it was way beyond Samuel\'s safety; she would regret it for the rest of her life as she was the one who got him in this mess.

" Don\'t worry. Just trust me on this." Samuel patted her head, showing some affection. Only he could do it, as no other would dare to treat Paige like a kid.

It was finally settled; it was time to look for what car he would be driving? He looked at his team\'s car.

Few caught his attention, including the Porsche 911 track version, but unfortunately, it was already out of service due to an earlier race.

There was a Ferrari, but it was not modified. It would be a pain in the ass on this more turning-centric track; there was no advantage if he competed with it.

A GTR, but the idiot blew out its tires. After searching for a few minutes, nothing caught his attention, and that\'s when reality started to kick in. He was horrified that only Paige\'s pink Lamborghini was suited to race.

It made much sense, considering Paige tuned the car and modified it according to this track. He would not be sure about his victory if he turned it down.

Samuel picked it up and drove the Diablo GT for a lap on the track. The speed was not fast; he only needed to remember a few key points to keep in his mind. With an ongoing simulation in his mind, he was ready to race.

Everyone saw his actions; they were embarrassed looking at him driving like an old man. Paige even held her forehead and sighed; replacing the racer crossed her mind several times!